/

(https://www.facebook.com/teachwithmovies/) (https://twitter.com/teachwithmovies) (https://www.pinterest.com/teachwithmovies/)

(http://teachwithmovies.org/)

Remember the TitansRemember the Titans

Privacy - Terms

WELCOME THE BEST OF TWM SEARCH MOVIES SNIPPETS & SHORTS

MOVIE & TELEVISION WORKSHEETS SPECIAL FEATURES

/

REMEMBER THE TITANSSUBJECTS — U.S./1945 – 1991, Diversity, & Virginia; Sports/Football;

SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING — Breaking Out; Friendship; Teamwork; Leadership; Male Role Model;

MORAL-ETHICAL EMPHASIS — Trustworthiness; Respect; Responsibility; Citizenship.

AGE; 11+; MPAA Rating — PG for thematic elements and some language;

Drama; 2000; 113 minutes; Color. Available from Amazon.com(https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000056VP4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=teachwithmovieso&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B000056VP4).

THE BEST OF TWM

One of the Best! (http://teachwithmovies.org/the-best-of-twm-u-s-history-for-high-school/) This movie is on TWM’s shortlist of the best movies to supplement classes in United States History, High School Level.

MENU

Benefits of the MoviePossible ProblemsParenting PointsSelected Awards & CastHelpful Background

Using the Movie in the ClassroomDiscussion QuestionsSocial-Emotional LearningMoral-Ethical Emphasis

Privacy - Terms

/

Assignments and ProjectsBridges to ReadingLinks to the InternetBibliography

MOVIE WORKSHEETS & STUDENT HANDOUTS

TWM offers the following movie worksheets to keep students’ minds on the film and to focus their attention on the lessonsto be learned from the movie.

Film Study Worksheet for a Work of Historical Fiction (http://teachwithmovies.org/film-study-worksheet-for-a-work-of-historical-fiction/);

Film Study Worksheet for ELA Classes (http://teachwithmovies.org/film-study-worksheet-for-a-work-of-fiction-general-movie-worksheet/); and

Worksheet for Cinematic and Theatrical Elements and Their Effects (http://teachwithmovies.org/introduction-to-cinematic-and-theatrical-technique/).

Teachers can modify the movie worksheets to fit the needs of each class. See also TWM’s Historical Fiction in Film Cross-Curricular Homework Project (http://teachwithmovies.org/historical-fiction-in-film-cross-curricular-homework-project/)and Movies as Literature Homework Project (http://teachwithmovies.org/movies-as-literature-homework-project/).

DESCRIPTION

This film chronicles true events that occurred during1971 in Alexandria, Virginia, when the school board came under courtorder to integrate both faculty and students in the public schools. At the time, high school football was the city’s mostpopular sport. The Titans become a model of integration for a city in troubled times.

The film combines four stories: (1) the time-tested formula of the triumph of an underdog sports team; (2) the friendshipbetween the two coaches, the black head coach and his white assistant, despite the fact that many thought that the whitecoach’s experience and years of service meant that he should be the head coach; (3) the friendship of two players, GerryBertier, the white team captain, and Julius Campbell, a talented black player; and (4) the story of a racially divided teamcoming together and playing as a unit despite the racial hatred roiling the community around it. The story of the underdogsports team is an invention of the filmmakers. Once the team coalesced at training camp, they were favored and had onlyone close game in their regular season. The important stories, those of the two coaches and the two players are truealthough many specific facts may have been supplied by the script writer. The two coaches were lifelong friends, as werethe two players. The team pulled together despite the racial tensions.

SELECTED AWARDS & CAST

Privacy - Terms

/

Selected Awards:

None.

 

Featured Actors:

Denzel Washington, Will Patton, Wood Harris, Ryan Hurst, Donald Adeosun Faison, Craig Kirkwood.

 

Director:

Boaz Yakin.

BENEFITS OF THE MOVIE

Remember the Titans is useful in clarifying the shifts in attitudes and the various personal decisions that were an importantpart of the progress in the early days of the process of integrating public schools in the South. Students will see how thecombination of self-sacrifice and self-interest motivated many of the people who struggled through these troubled times.

Privacy - Terms

/

Students can exercise writing and research skills through assignments at the film’s end which include the role played byboth high school and professional sports in the Civil Rights Movement.

POSSIBLE PROBLEMS

Minor racial violence is shown. There is a quick non-consensual male-to-male kiss, not properly introduced or followed up,that may leave the audience confused. A major character is critically injured in a car accident.

PARENTING POINTS

Tell your child that the story is accurately portrayed as to the personal relationships between the coaches and the players.Point out how the courage of both adults and young people shown in the film was a major factor in the long and on-goingstory of racial integration in this country.

HELPFUL BACKGROUND

Privacy - Terms

/

What’s True and What’s Fiction:In 1971 high school football was the most important fall activity in many towns in Virginia. The head football coach for alarge high school was an important public figure whose job could be forfeited if the season didn’t go well. If the team was awinner, the coach was a revered and powerful man. The stars of the team were heroes.

In that year, the Alexandria school board decided to comply with court orders to integrate public schools by consolidatingthe junior and senior classes from its three high schools into one of the schools, T.C. Williams. The Titans became the city’smost important football team. Its head coach was now the prime head coach for the city. Its players represented theentire town. In 1971 Alexandria’s star football player was Gary Bertier, the city’s only All-American. Bertier was a remarkableleader and was respected by much of the city.

The concentration of older, larger, and more experienced players gave T.C. Williams a substantial advantage over mostother football teams in its division. The 1971 Titans were expected to win a championship. Consolidation also meant thatplayers were competing for starting positions with nearly three times as many other students as before. Many players whowere good enough to be on the starting team at most high schools in the country, or who had been starters the previousyear, or who had rightfully expected to be starters in the coming year, would never make it off the bench. In addition, thewhite players from one of the schools (Hammond High) had never played with blacks. There was also a class divisionbecause Hammond had served a relatively wealthy district.

The Sports Story

The Racial Integration Story -- The CoachesPrivacy - Terms

/

USING THE MOVIE IN THE CLASSROOM

Before showing the movie, consider telling students the following: The stories of the coaches and the two players arereasonably accurate portrayals showing how these individuals rose to the occasion and became friends. The story of thesuccessful integration of the team as a whole has been simplified and enhanced by the filmmakers, but it still captures thespirit of the team and of its time.

For a detailed description of what is accurate and what was changed in the adaptation of this story to the screen, see theHelpful Background section above.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

After the film has been watched, engage the class in a discussion about the movie.

 

1. How did the individuals portrayed in this film make racial integration work?

Suggested Response:

Answers will vary. A good discussion will include the following concepts: It took respect for others, the ability tocommunicate, the moral courage to change when necessary, and a commitment by the coaches not just to winfootball games but also to help the players mature. These coaches understood that their primary responsibility wasto help prepare their players for life as adults.

 

2. What is the significance of this exchange between the Bertier character and the character of his mother. Bertier: “Mom,just get to know him.” Mother: “I don’t want to know him.” We do not know if this exchange really occurred, but it exemplifiesone of the themes of the movie. What is it?

Suggested Response:

Hatred and prejudice are born of ignorance. If you get to know someone, hatred and prejudice are harder tomaintain.

 

3. What was most difficult for the players to accept in the changes the team had to face?

Suggested Response:

Answers will vary. Adjusting to a new coaching style, accepting lesser roles on the team, having to work closely withteam members very different from themselves and fear of failure may all have worked against a quick adjustment.

The Racial Integration Story -- The Two Players, Bertier and Campbell

The Racial Integration Story -- The Team

The Titans 20 to 30 Years Later

Privacy - Terms

/

 

4. What factors were helpful in terms of players and coaches adjusting to the changes?

Suggested Response:

Answers will vary. Earned respect, the necessity of working together in order to win, and the power of individualpersonalities all served to help both players and teammates to cooperate.

SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL LEARNING

BREAKING OUT & FRIENDSHIP1. How did playing football help the students overcome their racial prejudice? What other activities can help peopleovercome their differences and begin working together?

Suggested Response:

There is no correct answer to this question. The purpose of the question is for students to realize that one of theprimary ways that racial prejudice is overcome is for people to have a goal that is more important than theirprejudice. In this case, the goal was having a winning team (for the players) and educating the students (for thecoaches). As shown in this film, once people start working together for a common goal, they realize that they havemuch in common and some become friends. In the situation of the Titans, not only was the goal of winning a unitingfactor, but Coach Boone designed the training camp so that it was extremely rigorous and that all the players wouldhave to work together in order to avoid very unpleasant consequences such as three times a day practices. For astory in which a woman consciously rids herself of racial prejudice in order to keep the affection of a man she loves,see Learning Guide to “Gentleman’s Agreement (http://teachwithmovies.org/gentlemans-agreement/)“.

 

2. Which of the characters in this film forged new ground in their relationships with others?

Suggested Response:

All of them (including the black players) except perhaps Sunshine and Lastik who from the beginning were able toaccept people without regard to their race.

 

3. Why did Coach Yoast stay on as an assistant to Coach Boone?

Suggested Response:

According to the film, he wanted to make sure that the white students that he had coached, in some cases sincejunior high school, were treated fairly. One of the things that impressed Yoast about Coach Boone was that he wasfair, dishing out the same harsh treatment to the black players as well as white players.

 

4. If you had been Coach Yoast would you have given up your chance to be in the hall of fame in order to help CoachBoone and the team?

Suggested Response:

The answer should be yes. It was the honorable and ethical thing to do. If Coach Yoast could not have given his fullallegiance to the team or fulfilled his responsibilities to the players, he should not have taken the job as the assistantcoach under Coach Boone. Once Coach Yoast joined the team he had the same obligation as the players: to do his

Additional Discussion Questions.

Privacy - Terms

/

best and be completely loyal. Actually, he had more of a responsibility since he was an adult and employed to teachthe students. Coach Yoast more than complied with these obligations.

 

TEAMWORK & LEADERSHIP5. Would the team have bonded had it not won?

Suggested Response:

According to Coach Boone, winning was very important to the bonding experience, along with communication, andgetting to know the other team members.

 

6. What do you think would have happened if the team had bonded, had lost a game in the middle of the season, and theschool board had tried to replace Boone as head coach?

Suggested Response:

The right thing would have been for the players to have gone on strike in support of Coach Boone and for CoachYoast to have declined promotion to the position. That’s asking a lot of people, but having come to know theseindividuals through the research for this Learning Guide, the authors believe that this probably would havehappened.

 

7. Coaches Boone and Yoast agree that a coach is first and foremost a teacher. How does a coach teach?

Suggested Response:

Coaches teach by example, by expecting excellence, and by setting standards.

 

8. If coaches are first and foremost teachers, list what they should teach their students in order of importance.

Suggested Response:

(only the first item is a right answer; the others can vary): (1) sportsmanship (the ethical principles of Trustworthiness,Responsibility, Respect and Fairness); (2) commitment to the team; (3) commitment to win; (4) hard work andperseverance; (5) striving to win while accepting loss. We are sure there are more.

 

9. Do you agree that Coach Yoast was too soft on the black players?

Suggested Response:

There is no right answer. Everyone has their own approach. The issue is whether this was an unintended and subtleracist attitude because it was applied to blacks more than it was to whites. Prejudice is a pernicious and subtle foethat everyone, even those who do not consider themselves to be racist, must fight. See Learning Guide to“Gentleman’s Agreement (http://teachwithmovies.org/gentlemans-agreement/)“.

 

10. Have you had a teacher, or a coach who inspired you to do your best? How did they do it?

Suggested Response:

The purpose of this question is to get students to think objectively about people who have made a difference in theirlives.

 

11. Describe the different methods of motivating the team favored by Coach Boone and Coach Yoast. Remember Yoast’sstatement to Boone: “There’s a fine line between tough and crazy and you’re flirting with it.” Why did Coach Boone push theboys so hard?

Privacy - Terms

/

Suggested Response:

Boone’s coaching style was very harsh. Yoast sought to be more obviously nurturing. Boone felt that the boys wouldcome against a difficult world and needed to learn about that world on the team. Coach Boone pushed the playersso hard because he wanted to give the boys, white and black, a very tough experience that they would have to gothrough together. This was part of his effort to unite them. It wasn’t that he wanted the players to hate him, but thathe saw the need for them to go through a common searing experience.

 

12. What were the similarities in the coaching styles of Boone and Yoast and were those similarities more or less importantthan the differences?

Suggested Response:

While there was at least one important difference between the coaching styles of Boone and Yoast, the similaritiesof their approaches to coaching were predominant and were a major factor in permitting them to work welltogether. Both men saw coaching as a teaching enterprise, they dealt honorably with other people, and they had astrong desire to win.

 

MALE ROLE MODEL13. This story has several male role models. Look at the coaches and the players Bertier and Campbell. What characteristicsof each do think is their best trait as a male role model?

Suggested Response:

There is no one correct response. The effort should be to get students to discuss what makes a male role model andwhat they respect most about the actions taken by the characters in the film.

MORAL-ETHICAL EMPHASIS (CHARACTER COUNTS)

Discussion Questions Relating to Ethical Issues (http://teachwithmovies.org/discussion-questions-relating-to-ethical-issues/) will facilitate the use of this film to teach ethical principles and critical viewing. Additional questions are set outbelow.

 

TRUSTWORTHINESS(Be honest; Don’t deceive, cheat or steal; Be reliable — do what you say you’ll do; Have the courage to do the right thing;Build a good reputation; Be loyal — stand by your family, friends and country)

 

1. What was wrong with the actions of Bertier’s friend, the white boy that Bertier eventually cut from the team?

Suggested Response:

Disloyalty to the team and dishonesty to his teammates. By being on the team he was promising that he would workhard for the benefit of the team, which included the black players for whom he was supposed to block. By decidingnot to do that in a key play, he was being dishonest. This is the essence if disloyalty.

 

2. When Coach Yoast’s friends wanted to make the Titan’s lose and tried to enlist Coach Yoast in that effort, what Pillar ofCharacter did they ask him to dishonor?

Suggested Response:Privacy - Terms

/

There are several Pillars that they asked him to violate, but primarily, it was the Pillar of Trustworthiness. (Other Pillarsinvolved are: Respect (for Coach Boone, the game, the players etc. which would have been violated had CoachYoast cooperated in the conspiracy; Citizenship because it would have been bad for the City to raise racially divisiveissues; Caring because he cared for the players and they for him.)

 

RESPECT(Treat others with respect; follow the Golden Rule; Be tolerant of differences; Use good manners, not bad language; Beconsiderate of the feelings of others; Don’t threaten, hit or hurt anyone; Deal peacefully with anger, insults anddisagreements)

 

3. Is there prejudice other than racial prejudice shown in the film?

Suggested Response:

Boone’s patronizing attitude toward Yoast’s daughter is an example of male chauvinism, and the initial prejudiceagainst Sunshine is an example of prejudice against persons with a different lifestyle.

 

4. What is the Pillar of Character that is dishonored by racial prejudice?

Suggested Response:

Primarily the Pillar of Respect, but also the Pillars of Citizenship and Caring. In addition, racial prejudice leads one toother wrongful actions, as it did Bertier’s former friend.

 

See Teamwork-Friendship section above.

 

RESPONSIBILITY(Do what you are supposed to do; Persevere: keep on trying!; Always do your best; Use self-control; Be self-disciplined;Think before you act — consider the consequences; Be accountable for your choices)

 

5. Could the team have succeeded if the players had not followed the Responsibility Pillar of Character?

Suggested Response:

No. In a competitive football league (high school, college, or professional), each player must do his or her best forthree reasons. First for self-respect, second out of caring and respect for teammates, and third, to win.

 

FAIRNESS(Play by the rules; Take turns and share; Be open-minded; listen to others; Don’t take advantage of others; Don’t blameothers carelessly)

 

6. In real life, Ronnie Bass got the quarterback position because he beat out “Rev” Harris. Coach Boone was in direct chargeof the offense and made that decision. If Coach Boone had favored the black players, would the Titan’s have been asuccess? Why not?

Suggested Response:

They would not have been a success because the cancer of racial preference, this time in favor of blacks, wouldhave wrecked the efforts to build the team. Privacy - Terms

/

 

CITIZENSHIP(Do your share to make your school and community better; Cooperate; Stay informed; vote; Be a good neighbor; Obeylaws and rules; Respect authority; Protect the environment)

 

7. Should Coach Boone have taken the job in the first place or should he have insisted that Yoast get the job?

Suggested Response:

There is no right answer. The issue is pretty well described in the film. Certainly, normally, Yoast had the right to thejob and Boone should have turned it down. However, there were some intervening factors that added unusual valuesand unexpected stakeholders into the decision. The black community in Alexandria needed a black man to take aprominent position, as did the struggle for integration as a whole. Despite his initial reluctance, these considerationsconvinced Coach Boone to take the position. There is no dispute that Coach Yoast deserved the position by customand seniority and by a wide margin at that. As it turned out, Coach Boone was able to unite the team and guide it tovictory. He made all the key decisions correctly, such as changing the seating on the bus, making black and whiteplayers room together, making the boys learn about each other, and bringing Yoast onto the team and trusting him.As Yoast recognized by the end of the season, Boone was the right man for the job. But then again, none of themknew this when Boone took the job.

 

8. Who honored the Citizenship Pillar of Character in this film and how did they do it?

Suggested Response:

Many people, including the coaches and the players on the team.

ASSIGNMENTS, PROJECTS & ACTIVITIES

Privacy - Terms

/

Any of the discussion questions can serve as a writing prompt. Additional assignments include:

 

1. Research the actual history of the Titans football team and write a report detailing what is correct about the movie andwhat is incorrect. Use at least four sources.

 

2. Research information about the significance of sports in the Civil Rights Movement. Present your findings in an oral reportto the entire class. Consider the integration of professional as well as school associated teams in your analysis.

 

3. Research information to create a sports integration timeline that begins with the first blacks admitted to the ranks ofprofessional sports and continues until today. Prepare a power point presentation for the class that shows the results ofyour research. Suggest specific concerns about aspects of sports that are not yet fully open to all races.

 

4. Write an opinion essay on what you see as the most important element in integrating two of the following institutions:public schools, sports teams, workplaces, the military, and the courts. Consider the force of law, the concern for thecommon good, a sense of justice and even self-interest as possible factors.

BRIDGES TO READING

Additional Assignments.

Privacy - Terms

/

Pro Football Hall of Fame by Terry Dunnahoo — Nonfiction — Grades 4 – 6; America’s Greatest Game by J. Buckley —Nonfiction — Grades 4 and up; Football by J. Buckley — Nonfiction — Grades 4 and up; Quarterbacks! — Nonfiction — Grades4 and up; The Story of Football by Dave Anderson — nonfiction — Grades 4 – 8; Crash by J. Spinelli — Fiction — Grades 5 andup; Quarterbacks! by G. Sullivan — Nonfiction — Grades 5 and up; and I am Third by Gale Sayers and Al Silverman —Nonfiction — Grades 6 and up.

LINKS TO THE INTERNET

1971 Original TC Williams Titans Foundation (http://www.71originaltitans.com/);This is the stuff legends – and Titans – are made of (http://www.seafordstar.com/030101/article1.html);ESPN Page 2: Reel Life – Remember the Titans (http://www.espn.com/page2/s/closer/020808.html);Production Notes from the scriptwriter, director, actors, Coach Boone, and Coach Yoast(http://teachwithmovies.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/production-notes-scriptwriter.pdf);The Real Titans Story by J.E. (http://web.archive.org/web/20050511222727/http://www.tcwilliams.com/tcw/jestory.html);The Home Page for the 1971 T.C. Williams High School Football Team (http://www.71originaltitans.com/);Review by Tobias Peterson at Topmatters Film(http://web.archive.org/web/20071222100110/www.popmatters.com/film/reviews/r/remember-the-titans.shtml);

BIBLIOGRAPHY

In addition to websites which may be linked in the Guide and selected film reviews listed on the Movie Review Query Engine(https://www.mrqe.com/), the following resources were consulted in the preparation of this Learning Guide: drafts of theGuide were submitted to Coaches Boone and Yoast for their comments. Coach Yoast replied, but to date, Coach Boonehas not. The following additional resources were consulted in the preparation of this Learning Guide:

“Does Anyone Remember the Titans?”, Sports Illustrated, October 15, 2001, pp. 72 et seq.Best Books for Young Adults by Betty Carter, Second Edition, Young Adult Library Services Association; 2000;Children’s Catalogue, Eighteenth Addition, edited by Anne Price and Juliette Yaakov, the H.W. Wilson Company, NewYork and Dublin, 2001;Best Books for Children — Preschool through Grade 6, Sixth Edition, edited by John T. Gillespie, R.R. Bowker, NewProvidence N.J., 1998.

This Learning Guide was written by James Frieden (http://teachwithmovies.org/who-we-are/) and Mary RedClay(http://teachwithmovies.org/who-we-are/) and was last updated on October 14, 2012.

Privacy - Terms

/

           

Benefits of the MoviePossible ProblemsParenting PointsSelected Awards & CastHelpful BackgroundUsing the Movie in the ClassroomDiscussion QuestionsSocial-Emotional LearningMoral-Ethical EmphasisAssignments and ProjectsBridges to ReadingLinks to the InternetBibliography

LEARNING GUIDE MENU:

Privacy - Terms

/

           

TWM offers the following movie worksheets to keep students’ minds on the film and to focus their attention on the lessonsto be learned from the movie.

Film Study Worksheet for a Work of Historical Fiction (http://teachwithmovies.org/film-study-worksheet-for-a-work-of-historical-fiction/);

Film Study Worksheet for ELA Classes (http://teachwithmovies.org/film-study-worksheet-for-a-work-of-fiction-general-movie-worksheet/); and

Worksheet for Cinematic and Theatrical Elements and Their Effects (http://teachwithmovies.org/introduction-to-cinematic-and-theatrical-technique/).

Teachers can modify the movie worksheets to fit the needs of each class. See also TWM’s Historical Fiction in Film Cross-Curricular Homework Project (http://teachwithmovies.org/historical-fiction-in-film-cross-curricular-homework-project/)and Movies as Literature Homework Project (http://teachwithmovies.org/movies-as-literature-homework-project/).

           

Click on the link for a discussion of Segregation and Its Corrosive Effects in the Learning Guide to “A Force More Powerful(http://teachwithmovies.org/a-force-more-powerful/)“.

           

See Brian’s Song (http://teachwithmovies.org/brians-song/) and Edge of America (http://teachwithmovies.org/edge-of-america/). See also movies relating to the U.S. Civil Rights Movement (http://teachwithmovies.org/subject-matter-united-states-history-culture-2/#unique-identifierus5).

MOVIE WORKSHEETS:

MOVIES ON RELATED TOPICS:

Privacy - Terms